


Firestar's Pride

by Brambleshadow_of_WindClan



Category: Warriors
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, F/M, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-08-18
Updated: 2011-08-18
Packaged: 2017-10-22 19:13:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/241564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brambleshadow_of_WindClan/pseuds/Brambleshadow_of_WindClan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Formerly known as <i>Leafpool and Crowfeather Forever</i>. AU: Canon Divergence] Basically, Crowfeather is kicked out of WindClan and goes to ThunderClan. I was planning to have it styled after The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, but it has a life of its own. (Might put this up for adoption.)</p><p> </p><p>ON HIATUS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_In the WindClan camp, Crowfeather, the _father of Leafpool's kits, was having some small problems. Ever since his three ThunderClan kits had told him he was their father, his mind had been filled with memories of sneaking out to meet his forbidden love. He shook his mind to clear the image of Leafpool that had popped into his head to focus on the scene in front of him.__

 _Nightcloud and Breezepelt were facing him with their fur fluffed up and claws unsheathed. The rest of WindClan was watching nearby in a loose semi-circle._

 _"I can't believe you would do such a thing!" Nightcloud snarled._

 _"What could you expect? I was in love," Crowfeather meowed desperately. "Besides, how was I supposed to know she was carrying my kits? I'm not a medicine cat!"_

 _"That's not the point," Breezepelt growled, taking a step towards his father. "You're a traitor to my mother, me, and your Clan by falling in love with a _ThunderClan medicine cat_!" At that, he took a swipe at Crowfeather's face. Crowfeather backed up._

"I didn't even know they were my kits until they told me," Crowfeather protested. "Look, we came back to the Clans after Midnight--" he broke off, horrified. Breezepelt had no idea he had run away with Leafpool.

"You came back?" Breezepelt faltered for a heartbeat, and then his anger returned. "You're saying you ran away with her?"

"It was the only way we could be together! We were in love!"

"And you still love her," Nightcloud hissed. "Admit it, Crowfeather. You never loved me or our son!"

"Leave now. Traitor!"

Onestar stepped forward and meowed sternly to Breezepelt, "That's for me to decide. But he does have a point," he added, turning to Crowfeather. The brown tabby tom leaped onto Tallrock and yowled out the familiar words, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath Tallrock for a Clan meeting!"

The whole of WindClan padded over to hear Crowfeather's judgment.

"Crowfeather, as of now, you are no longer a WindClan warrior

Crowfeather nodded.

"I'll go, but its WindClan's loss, not mine," he meowed, whirling around, and racing out of camp.

 _I've got to find Leafpool,_ he thought. _She has to help me._ He headed towards the ThunderClan border.

~*~*~*~

Leafpool was eating a sparrow in the ThunderClan camp with her two remaining kits, Jayfeather and Lionblaze. When she finished, she stood up and headed into the forest. Her mind filled with memories of Crowfeather: the glow in his blue eyes when he told her how much he loved her; sneaking out to meet him; the night they ran away from their Clans, then the Gathering when Hollyleaf revealed that her true parents were Leafpool and Crowfeather . . .

Leafpool shook her head, trying to blot out that awful memory, when she heard a hiss. She jumped, but then listened harder when the hiss came again: "Leafpool!"

Leafpool instantly relaxed when she saw the source behind it. Crowfeather was crouched under a bush nearby.

"Crowfeather!" she meowed happily as she squeezed under the bush to join him. "What's wrong?" she asked after seeing his worried look.

"Can I join ThunderClan? Onestar banished me from WindClan," Crowfeather explained.

"We'll have to ask Firestar," Leafpool told him after they managed to wiggle out from the bush. "Come on."

They sprinted through the trees back to the ThunderClan camp. Once inside, Leafpool told Crowfeather, "Follow me. Firestar's in his den."

As the two of them walked to Firestar's den, Leafpool was aware of some of her Clanmates staring at the two of them.

"What's he doing here?" Leafpool heard Berrynose mutter to Spiderleg.

"I don't know," Spiderleg replied. "They obviously have to talk to Firestar. Let's wait and see."

Lionblaze stepped forward to intercept Leafpool. "What in the name of StarClan is our father doing here?"

Jayfeather padded up to Crowfeather.

 _Probably searching his memories_ , Leafpool thought. That was her son's special power. He could walk in other cat's dreams and memories. Lionblaze could fight in battles without getting injured. Leafpool had no idea where her other son's powers came from, but they were dead useful.

"WindClan." Jayfeather let out a contemptuous snort. "I never get used to how they smell."

Crowfeather bristled.

"You'll find out soon enough as to what I'm doing here," he retorted. "Now, if you don't mind, we have to see Firestar."

Without waiting for a reply, the two of them climbed up the rock path that led to the ThunderClan leader's den.

"Firestar," Leafpool meowed, "can we come in?"

"Yes, come in," her father meowed. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw who was behind her.

"Firestar, please let me explain," Crowfeather meowed. When the Clan leader nodded, he continued. "I've been banished from WindClan, and I want to join ThunderClan."

Firestar didn't reply, but he had a thoughtful look in his green eyes. Finally he meowed, "All right. But for now I reserve judgment. Leafpool, show him where he can sleep in the warriors' den."

Leafpool nodded, excitement coursing through her.

"Come on!" she mewed to Crowfeather.

They bounded down from the rock path, and Leafpool made her way over to the warrior's den.

"You can sleep near me," she told him. "I'll fetch you some moss now, so we can make a nest."

Before they could move, a yowl sounded from Highledge: "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather to hear what I have to tell you!"

The Clan gathered beneath Highledge, waiting for Firestar to speak.


	2. Chapter 2

_"I'm sure most of you are_ wondering what Crowfeather is doing here. He wants to join ThunderClan, since he has been exiled from his own Clan. He will take part in patrols and have a space in the warriors' den."

"Can he be trusted?" Dustpelt called out. "Especially on the WindClan border?"

Crowfeather's neck fur bristled and he opened his mouth for a furious retort, but Firestar silenced him with a glare before he could say anything.

"Yes, he can," the ThunderClan leader meowed sharply. then he jumped down from the Highledge to show the meeting was over.

The Clan lingered for a few moments, muttering amongst themselves.

"Three guesses as to why he joined ThunderClan," Crowfeather heard Berrynose mutter sarcastically to Birchfall as Leafpool padded up beside him.

"Ignore them," she mewed. "Come on, I'll show you where you can sleep."

Crowfeather followed her into the large bush. The inside of the warriors' den was cool and shady. Crowfeather followed Leafpool over to her nest. At first, the scents were mixed up, but as he moved forward, they fell into place.

Brambleclaw's scent was near the center of the den, Brightheart's was also close, Cinderheart's was near the entrance, and so on and so forth. The former WindClan warrior stopped next to Leafpool and started scouting for a space next to her for his nest. Even though the den had been extended, it was pretty crowded.

"We can get some bedding now if you like," she mewed, as if reading his thoughts. "Come on, I'll show you where to go." The light-brown tabby turned and began heading for the entrance, Crowfeather on her tail.

When they came out of the den, he saw Lionblaze go over to the apprentice's den. "Dovepaw!" he called. Crowfeather pricked his ears as a gray she-cat with golden eyes came bounding out of the den.

"Hi Lionblaze!" she mewed. "What are we doing today?" Then she noticed Crowfeather. "Who's he?"

Crowfeather saw that Lionblaze looked uncomfortable.

"He's, uh, Crowfeather," the golden tom told his apprentice.

Dovepaw sniffed the air, and almost immediately wrinkled her nose. "Ugh! He smells like WindClan!"

"That's because I was in WindClan," Crowfeather informed the gray she-cat. "But I'm in ThunderClan now."

"Why did you change Clans?" Dovepaw meowed curiously.

"Uh, well, I . . ." Crowfeather exchanged a glance at Leafpool that said, Help me!

Leafpool understood. She mewed, "Shouldn't you be training Dovepaw?"

"Oh, yes. I'll be going now." The fluffy gray she-cat turned and started trotting for the thorn barrier. Lionblaze flashed a grateful look at them before bounding after his apprentice.

"Dovepaw, wait up!"

Leafpool let out a _mrrow_ of laughter and flicked Crowfeather over the ears with her tail. "Coming? We still have to get that bedding."

"Sure." Crowfeather followed her out of the tunnel and into the forest.


	3. Chapter 3

_The sun was just sinking behind_ WindClan's hills by the time Crowfeather got back from a hunting patrol. After proudly depositing his catch on the fresh-kill pile--a plump rabbit---he grabbed a squirrel and settled a few tail-lengths away to eat it. Leafpool padded over, grabbed a vole, and settled down beside him to eat.

"What do you think of ThunderClan?" she asked in between bites of vole.

"Squirrelflight is, well, Squirrelflight; Berrynose is a stuck-up mousebrained excuse for a tom; Purdy bores me to death . . ."

Leafpool let out a mrrow of laughter. "I mean, how do you like the territory, furball!"

"Oh. I'm not really used to hunting in the woods, but I can learn quickly. . . ."

"You're kidding, right? You have a patch of woodland in WindClan territory!"

Crowfeather found his neck fur slightly rising and quickly smoothed it down. "Yeah, I was joking. The abandoned Twoleg nest creeps me out--"

"Who doesn't it creep out?"

"As I was saying"--he gave her a pointed look between bites of squirrel--"the prey seems plentiful around here. No wonder you ThunderClan cats are well-fed."

"You're ThunderClan too, remember?" Leafpool gave him a knowing sypathetic glance out of amber eyes.

"Yeah, right," he meowed slowly. Pushing aside the remains of the squirrel, he padded into the warriors' den and curled up in his nest. after what seemed like days, he heard Leafpool's nest rustle beside him as she settled down in it. He sighed and closed his eyes, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

~*~*~*~

Crowfeather was dreaming. He was chasing a rabbit through the woodland on WindClan's side of the stream. He slowed his pace, preparing to leap on his prey, when he was knocked onto his side by a paw coming out of nowhere.

The dark gray tom slowly opened his eyes to find the paw still poking into his side. "Wha--? Get off." He batted feebily at his assailant.

"Get up, mousebrain!"

The hiss woke Crowfeather up fast. He turned his head to find amber eyes staring at him, causing him to leap to his paws and almost crush Cinderheart's tail. "What is it?"

"Dawn patrol. Come on." Turning, Brambleclaw carefully manuevered his way out of the honeysuckle den. Crowfeather stretched quickly and followed the ThunderClan deputy out to where the rest of the patrol was waiting near the thorn tunnel.

"Where are we going?" Crowfeather asked Graystripe, who was leading the patrol.

"The ShadowClan border," the long-furred gray tom replied. "Oh, and while I'm talking to you, Firestar wants you to stay away from his daughter."

"Okay. I'll gladly stay away from Squirrelflight."

"He meant Leafpool, mousebrain!" Graystripe let out a quiet hiss and darted out of the tunnel. Crowfeather and the rest of the patrol--Brackenfur, Sorreltail, and Brambleclaw--trotted after him and made their way to the ShadowClan border. Crowfeather was a tail-length behind the ThunderClan cats, since he had never been this way before. They were at the Twoleg nest when he tasted something on the air and paused. Sniffing, he drew the scent over his scent glands, trying to identify it. He finally figured out what it was. "Graystripe!" he hissed.

The ThunderClan warrior skidded to a halt. "What is it?"

"ShadowClan scent inside ThunderClan territory."

Brackenfur tasted the air too. "It's fresh, Graystripe. They must be nearby."

"You're right about that," a voice sneered. Crowfeather's eyes widened as a ShadowClan patrol--Rowanclaw, Smokefoot, Ratscar, and Pinepaw--appeared inside the greenleaf Twolegplace clearing.

Brambleclaw bared his teeth. "Rowanclaw!" he growled. "What are you doing on our territory?"

The ginger tom's green eyes narrowed. "Your territory? This is ShadowClan land now."

"No, it's not!" Sorreltail spat, her tortoiseshell fur bristling. "Do you want to fight for it again? Especially after what happened to Russetfur?"

"We will if we have to," the ShadowClan deputy meowed. Then he noticed Crowfeather. "What's a WindClan cat doing with a ThunderClan patrol?"

Crowfeather padded forward until he was standing right on the new border. "I'm ThunderClan now. What's it to you?"

Ratscar's eyes lit up. "Does the reason you joined have anything to do with a certain ThunderClan she-cat?" the brown tom taunted him.

Crowfeather unsheathed his claws. "It's none of your business. Now, get out of our territory, or we'll fight you for it."

"You'll never win," Brambleclaw added, padding up beside the former WindClan warrior.

Smokefoot's eyes narrowed. "You're sure about that, are you?" He flicked his tail and ShadowClan cats poured out of the pine forest and lined up beside their Clanmates, eyes glittering. Crowfeather gulped. _How in StarClan's name are we going to win?_ They were only five cats, facing what seemed like the whole of ShadowClan.

 _StarClan, help us!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Crowfeather heard Brambleclaw's voice hiss in_ his ear, "Crowfeather, run back to camp and tell Firestar to come quick. Hurry!"

The dark gray tom nodded. "WindClan cats are best at running, you know," he reminded Brambleclaw softly before turning around and racing through the forest. He heard Rowanclaw yowl, "Stop him!"

Crowfeather heard paws pounding the forest floor after him and scented a ShadowClan cat. From the scent of it, it was Tigerheart. The dark brown tabby tom tried to catch up, but he didn't have the former WindClan warrior's speed. Crowfeather easily outdistanced him and was at the entrance to the ThunderClan camp in what seemed like heartbeats. Crashing through the tunnel into the camp, he yowled, "Firestar!"

The flame-colored ginger tom was sharing tounges with Sandstorm on Highledge, but leaped to his paws and jumped down. He padded over to the former WindClan warrior. "What is it?"

Crowfeather meowed, "ShadowClan has moved the border. We were patrolling it and walked right into an ambush."

Firestar's green eyes widened. "Are they fighting now?"

"Yes."

The ThunderClan leader's tail-tip flicked back and forth as he called, "Lionblaze, Dovepaw, Thornclaw, Cinderheart, Ivypaw, Squirrelflight, Spiderleg, Brightheart, Rosepetal, Foxleap, Toadstep, Blossomfall, Bumblestripe, Leafpool!"

The warriors whose names he had called bounded forward, tails lashing and fur bristling. They exited the camp quickly and raced for the ShadowClan border. Crowfeather's heart was in his throat as he followed behind Leafpool, keeping pace with her. She hadn't been a warrior for long; how would she do in a situation like this? Squirrelflight saw that they were close together and dropped back, nudging Crowfeather aside with a snarl. The ginger she-cat spat, "Stay away from my sister."

"Okay, okay. Keep your fur on," Crowfeather meowed quickly, lengthening his stride until he was ahead of the patrol. Firestar gave the order as soon as the ShadowClan cats came into sight: "ThunderClan, attack!"

Lionblaze immediately leaped onto Tigerheart and started battling with the dark brown tabby tom. Crowfeather couldn't help noticing they both used battle moves he had never seen before (and no, Lionblaze is not being trained by the Dark Forest). His attention was distracted by a white she-cat bowling him over. _Snowbird!_ Crowfeather recognized the white ShadowClan warrior from Gatherings. Snowbird reared onto her hind legs, preparing to slash her claws across Crowfeather's face. Crowfeather rose to meet her, and parried her blows. After a while, he decided, This has gone on long enough, and ducked down. When the white she-cat fell to her four paws, he unbalanced her and dug his claws into her scruff. "You done?" he growled.

Snowbird nodded.

"Then get out of my territory." Crowfeather released her and the ShadowClan warrior fled, joining her Clanmates. With Snowbird taken care of, Crowfeather looked around to see if his new Clanmates needed help. Leafpool was being held down by a ShadowClan warrior he recognized as Scorchfur. Snarling, Crowfeather dashed over to the struggling cats to help Leafpool, but the pale tabby warrior leaped to her paws and threw Scorchfur off. "I'm fine!" she yowled. "Go help Blossomfall!"

Crowfeather turned on his hind paws to help the tortoiseshell warrior and found himself facing a dark brown tabby ShadowClan warrior. _Toadfoot!_ Snarling, Crowfeather unsheathed his claws once again, waiting for the ShadowClan tom to attack. Toadfoot, the idiot that he was, leaped, aiming for Crowfeather's neck. When he was almost on top of the dark gray tom, Crowfeather stood up suddenly and arched his back, sending the ShadowClan warrior rolling over him onto the forest floor. He risked taking a quick look in Blossomfall's direction and found her fighting side-by-side with her brother, Bumblestripe, before whirling around and facing Toadfoot once again.

"What are you doing here, traitor?" the dark brown tom snarled.

"Weren't you paying attention?" Crowfeather retorted. "I belong to ThunderClan now."

He sent Toadfoot sprawling with a kick to the chest, and found Rosepetal and Ratscar fighting. Their eyes glittered, calculating the other's every move. Finally, Rosepetal gave the brown tom with a scar on his back a blow that sent him wailing into the brambles.

A flash of silver-and-white tabby fur caught his eye, and he saw Ivypaw and Pinepaw battling. The ThunderClan apprentice was using moves that looked suspicously like RiverClan - not to mention the same ones Lionblaze and Tigerheart were using. She held down the black she-cat and sank her teeth into the apprentice's neck. Crowfeather shivered; it looked like she was killing prey. Ivypaw released Pinepaw and pulled back her lips, showing teeth stained red with fresh blood.

"Ivypaw!" he yowled, sprinting over to the young she-cat. Facing her, he meowed sternly, "The warrior code says honorable warriors do not need to kill to win their battles. Have you forgotten that?"

"Why do I have to listen to you?" she spat. "You're not even a real ThunderClan cat!"

Suddenly, he was blindsided by Tawnypelt. The tortoiseshell she-cat raised a paw to strike, then pulled back in disbelief. "Crowfeather?"

"Yes, and before you ask what I'm doing here, I'm in ThunderClan now. Now, get off."

"Oh, um, sure." Tawnypelt pulled back, only to be attacked by Foxleap. Crowfeather stepped out of the tusseling cats' way and turned back to Ivypaw, but the silver-and-white apprentice was lost in the sea of pelts.

Brambleclaw's yowl split the air: "ThunderClan, to me!"

The ThunderClan warriors drew back from their rivals and clustered around their deputy. Crowfeather fought his way up through the mass of cats so he could hear Brambleclaw's orders.

"Move them back to our territory, in the brambles," the dark brown tabby tom ordered.

"But that'll make it harder to fight them!" Dovepaw protested.

"No it won't!" Graystripe realized. "They don't have brambles in the pine forest! Besides, we can use our tree-fighting tatics."

"Go!" Brambleclaw hissed to his cats, waving his tail to order them to split into two groups and surround the ShadowClan cats on the wrong side of the border, driving them into ThunderClan forest territory.

 _What tree-fighting tatics?_ Crowfeather wondered. _I was a WindClan cat! We don't do trees!_


End file.
